diff --git a/lib/media/media_server_client.dart b/lib/media/media_server_client.dart
index 5667a61f..89d0f931 100644
--- a/lib/media/media_server_client.dart
+++ b/lib/media/media_server_client.dart
@@ -750,10 +750,11 @@ mixin MediaServerCacheMixin implements MediaServerClient {
     try {
       final response = await networkCall();
       throwIfHttpError(response);
+      final parsed = parseResponse(response);
       if (cacheResponse) {
         await _putCacheResponse(cacheScope, cacheKey, response.data);
       }
-      return parseResponse(response);
+      return parsed;
     } catch (e) {
       if (shouldFallback != null && !shouldFallback(e)) rethrow;
       appLogger.w('Network request failed for $cacheKey, trying cache', error: e);
@@ -784,10 +785,11 @@ mixin MediaServerCacheMixin implements MediaServerClient {
     if (isOfflineMode) return null;
     final response = await networkCall();
     throwIfHttpError(response);
+    final parsed = parseResponse(response);
     if (cacheResponse) {
       await _putCacheResponse(cacheScope, cacheKey, response.data);
     }
-    return parseResponse(response);
+    return parsed;
   }
 
   Future<void> _putCacheResponse(ServerId cacheScope, String cacheKey, dynamic data) async {
diff --git a/test/media/media_server_client_cache_test.dart b/test/media/media_server_client_cache_test.dart
index 0f36b0c8..a6084398 100644
--- a/test/media/media_server_client_cache_test.dart
+++ b/test/media/media_server_client_cache_test.dart
@@ -111,6 +111,25 @@ void main() {
     expect(await cache.get(client.serverId, '/metadata/no-cache'), isNull);
   });
 
+  test('cache-first leaves a rejected response uncached', () async {
+    const key = '/metadata/rejected-response';
+    const body = {'value': 'invalid'};
+    final parseError = FormatException('invalid metadata');
+
+    await expectLater(
+      client.fetchWithCacheFirst<String>(
+        cacheScope: client.serverId,
+        cacheKey: key,
+        networkCall: () async => MediaServerResponse(statusCode: 200, data: body, headers: const {}),
+        parseCache: (_) => 'cached',
+        parseResponse: (_) => throw parseError,
+      ),
+      throwsA(same(parseError)),
+    );
+
+    expect(await cache.get(client.serverId, key), isNull);
+  });
+
   test('successful miss is parsed and cached exactly once', () async {
     var networkCalls = 0;
     var parserCalls = 0;
@@ -214,6 +233,27 @@ void main() {
       expect(responseParserCalls, 0);
     });
 
+    test('omitted selector serves the previous cache after response parsing fails', () async {
+      const key = '/metadata/parser-fallback';
+      await cache.put(client.serverId, key, cachedBody);
+      var cacheParserCalls = 0;
+
+      final value = await client.fetchWithCacheFallback<String>(
+        cacheKey: key,
+        networkCall: () async =>
+            MediaServerResponse(statusCode: 200, data: const {'value': 'invalid'}, headers: const {}),
+        parseCache: (cached) {
+          cacheParserCalls++;
+          return (cached as Map<String, dynamic>)['value'] as String;
+        },
+        parseResponse: (_) => throw const FormatException('invalid metadata'),
+      );
+
+      expect(value, 'cached');
+      expect(cacheParserCalls, 1);
+      expect(await cache.get(client.serverId, key), cachedBody);
+    });
+
     test('rejecting selector rethrows an HTTP status without reading cached data', () async {
       const key = '/metadata/rejected-fallback';
       await cache.put(client.serverId, key, cachedBody);
diff --git a/test/services/plex_client_http_contract_test.dart b/test/services/plex_client_http_contract_test.dart
index 463045aa..2bae3e77 100644
--- a/test/services/plex_client_http_contract_test.dart
+++ b/test/services/plex_client_http_contract_test.dart
@@ -219,7 +219,7 @@ void main() {
 
       test('${api.name} propagates a valid JSON payload rejected by the item DTO', () async {
         final id = '${api.name}-cached-unmappable';
-        await seedItem(id);
+        final seededResponse = await seedItem(id);
         var requestCount = 0;
         final client = makeClient((_) async {
           requestCount++;
@@ -236,6 +236,13 @@ void main() {
         await expectLater(lookup(client, id, includeOnDeck: api.includeOnDeck), throwsA(isA<TypeError>()));
 
         expect(requestCount, 1);
+        expect(await PlexApiCache.instance.get(defaultProfileScopeId.cacheServerId, endpointFor(id)), seededResponse);
+
+        client.setOfflineMode(true);
+        final offlineResult = await lookup(client, id, includeOnDeck: api.includeOnDeck);
+        expect(offlineResult.item?.id, id);
+        expect(offlineResult.item?.title, 'Cached item');
+        expect(requestCount, 1);
       });
 
       test('${api.name} uses profile-scoped cache without HTTP while explicitly offline', () async {